Last year I was in Vancouver for a conference, and had a day to explore around a bit. The conference was taking place at the large conference center next to the Vancouver Harbour and so I set out to walk west from the

Torres de Serranos : Valencia
Aside from the insane City of Arts and Sciences, the lovely old gardens and parks, and the funky Las Fallas festival, there is also the old town and the surrounding old walls, protected by a series of gates around the city. The Torres de

Visions of Namur : Belgium
On the way back from a roadtrip to Dinant close to the Belgium-French border I had a quick stopover at Namur to get a taste of the views. I climbed up the Citadel of Namur to see panoramic views of the Meuse and

Hayden Butte Preserve : Phoenix
To wrap up my visit to Phoenix during Christmas, I made a short visit to the University of Arizona in Phoenix. To catch a last glimpse of the city from above, I took the opportunity to climb up the nearby mountain and the Hayden

Visions of Den Bosch : Netherlands
On every trip I took from Maastricht up north to Utrecht or Amsterdam there was a stop called ‘s-Hertogenbosch. How to even pronounce that? I thought, but it’s pretty straightforward if you use the short Den Bosch, a little gem

Museo Fallero de Valencia
Once a year Valencia celebrates Saint Joseph with Las Fallas and turns completely crazy. People take to the streets to parade along huge funny figures and go wild, partying all day. The figurines have been a cult art event, with

Visions of Dinant : Belgium
Along the Meuse River in the Namur province of southern Belgium is a picturesque little town called Dinant. Aside from the breath-taking views of the river from the surrounding hills and mountains, there are a few little attractions that make it even

Tokyo love motels
I received a few questions the other week from folks traveling to Tokyo asking me about recommendations for affordable places to stay. I already wrote a post about it, but that was from a trip over 7 years ago, so

Visions of Wurzburg : Germany
Würzburg is a lovely town in northern Bavaria, a quick getaway trip from Frankfurt or Munich. It has a very picturesque old town next to the wide Main River, with the imposing Fortress Marienberg, reachable by very old bridges from

Japanse Tuin & Cosplay : Hasselt
On my first visit to Hasselt, a small city not too far away from Maastricht to the west in the Belgium Limburg, I went to see the local Japanese gardens (Japanese Tuin). When parking the car I already realized there was something